Brandon Sutter | Center

Latest News

Recent News

Brandon Sutter and the Vancouver Canucks have been working on an extension.

Sutter's new deal is reportedly looking like it will be a five-year contract just shy of $4.4 million annually. Whether or not that deal makes sense depends on the role he'll play in Vancouver. It sounds like he might start the 2015-16 campaign as the team's second line center, but is that his long-term role there? He's great defensively, but hasn't been a prolific scorer and might ultimately make more sense serving on the third line and in that scenario, his contract might look a bit overpriced. Jul 30 - 3:20 PM

It certainly would be awkward now if Benning isn't able to re-sign Sutter before he become an unrestricted free agent next summer, although it seems like that scenario isn't going to play out. The two sides might be able to agree on an extension well before the campaign starts. Vancouver acquired Sutter and a 2016 third round pick from Pittsburgh in exchange for Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening and a 2016 second rounder. It also sounds like Sutter might serve as the team's second line center over Bo Horvat for now. That would make this trade a positive for Sutter from a fantasy perspective, although we wouldn't expect a huge leap from the 33 points he registered in 2014-15. Jul 28 - 2:23 PM

The Vancouver Canucks have acquired Brandon Sutter and a 2016 third round selection from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Nick Bonino, Adam Clendening and a 2016 second rounder.

Sutter is a solid defensive center that can chip in a bit offensively. While he was pretty much stuck as the third-line center in Pittsburgh, he might have a shot of playing regularly on the second line in Vancouver. We wouldn't count on that though as there's a good chance that role will go with Bo Horvat now that Bonino is gone. Jul 28 - 11:50 AM

Brandon Sutter was Pittsburgh's only goal scorer in the Penguins' 4-1 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia Sunday.

Sutter scored his 19th goal of the season at 16:21 of the first period, giving the Pens a shortlived 4-1 lead. The Pens outshot the Flyers 47-20 but Philly goalie Steve Mason was hot, kicking aside 46 shots. The Flyers have won eight in a row against the Penguins dating back to last season. More importantly for Pittsburgh, though, is the fact that it has lost three in a row and is 3-8-1 in its past 12 games. The slump, which has featured two regulation losses to Philadelphia, has put the Pens in dangerous territory when it comes to the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. Apr 5 - 4:37 PM

Depth Charts

Henrik Sedin had an assist in Vancouver's 2-1 win over Calgary on Thursday.

That gives Sedin a goal and three points in five playoff games. This win extended the Canucks' 2015 run, but they're still down 3-2 in their series to the Calgary Flames. Game 6 will be played on Saturday.

GM Jim Benning notes that the Canucks are "comfortable at No. 23" in this month's Entry Draft, but that doesn't mean they're going to sit back and see who, or what, comes to them. It's just that Horvat isn't going anywhere. "We're just starting to get some depth now with our young prospects and I don't want to give any of them up," Benning continued. The Canucks surprised many by making the playoffs last season, and they first have a goalie surplus "problem", if you wish to call it that, to solve. Benning also said that he's "going to try and recover a second-round pick." Perhaps he can fill two nests with one egg in trading either Jacob Markstrom or Eddie Lack.

Brandon Sutter and the Vancouver Canucks have been working on an extension.

Sutter's new deal is reportedly looking like it will be a five-year contract just shy of $4.4 million annually. Whether or not that deal makes sense depends on the role he'll play in Vancouver. It sounds like he might start the 2015-16 campaign as the team's second line center, but is that his long-term role there? He's great defensively, but hasn't been a prolific scorer and might ultimately make more sense serving on the third line and in that scenario, his contract might look a bit overpriced.

And it started during the offseason: "My preparation last summer
wasn’t what it needed to be. … The season (with the Canucks) didn't go
the way I wanted. I came in with big expectations to put up numbers.
It was a big learning curve." Vey had 10 goals and 24 points during
his first full NHL season. He’s calling this offseason "the biggest
summer of his life." Vey will battle for the third-line center job in
Vancouver.

Expect to see Alex Burrows get a lot more time on the top line with the Sedin twins next season.

Coach Willie Desjardins liked the rugged winger playing alongside Henrik and Daniel Sedin. "I think the way Daniel and Henrik handle the puck, they need a guy who will go to the net," Desjardins explained. "If they have a guy there, they’ll get the puck there. I think they need a guy who is maybe a little bit hard on the forecheck and will get in there and be a little bit of a physical presence. I think they need a guy who is a pretty good skater on the line to come back (defensively)." This could have an effect on Radim Vrbata who spent most of the season on the top line. While Burrows value could go up next season in fantasy pools, Vrbata's value could take a small hit.

Chris Higgins broke his four year playoff point drought when he tallied a power play goal early on in the first period.

The Canucks would go on to win the game 4-1, tying the series at one. It had been 15 games since he'd recorded a point in the playoffs, and another five since he'd scored a goal. For his career, Higgins now has 11 goals and 20 points in 58 career playoff games.

Sven Baertschi has agreed to a one-year contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

Vancouver didn't disclose the value of Baertschi's contract, but it did specify that he's getting a one-way deal. That means that he'll make the same amount regardless of what level he plays at. He had two goals and six points in 18 games with Calgary and Vancouver last season and another 40 points in 51 AHL contests.

Jannik Hansen scored a goal and added an assist but that wasn't enough as he and the Vancouver Canucks were defeated 7-4 by the Flames in Calgary Saturday night and were eliminated from the playoffs.

Hansen scored his goal on a wrist shot at 7:32 of the first period, giving the Canucks a 2-0 lead after Brandon McMillan's opening goal at 2:36. When Radim Vrbata scored to make it a 3-0 lead for the Canucks at 9:42 of the first, it seemed as though Vancouver was well on its way to tying the series at 3-3 and extending it to a seventh game. But the Flames bounced back with three goals before Luca Sbisa took a Hansen pass and gave Vancouver a 4-3 lead at 10:36 of the second period. The Flames scored four goals in the third period, however, and that was all she wrote for the Canucks.

The Canucks dealt Zack Kassian and a fifth round pick for Prust who will help Dorsett on the physical side of the game. Dorsett actually texted GM Jim Benning and said 'Thank you' upon hearing of the trade. Dorsett was almost solo up front in taking care of the physicality and things should be different in Vancouver this season.

Gallagher and Prust were teammates in Montreal for the last three years. Prust was traded to Vancouver earlier this summer for Zack Kassian. Gallagher is certain that the fans in Vancouver will appreciate Prust's style of play. "I think they’re going to respect the way he plays," Gallagher said of Prust. "He wants to compete. He’s hungry to win. He wants that opportunity. I think the fans are going to be impressed with what he’s able to do." If he can stay healthy, Prust will be a good source of penalty minutes in 2015-16.

Ronalds Kenins' new deal with Vancouver is a one-year, one-way contract.

Kenins will earn $575,000 in 2015-16, which makes it both easy to keep him on the roster in Vancouver and still tolerable if the Canucks ultimately decide to send him to the minors. He had four goals and 12 points in 30 games with Vancouver last season.

Dan Hamhuis is looking for his fourth medal at the World Championships.

Hamhuis has had a storied international career that was capped by winning Gold at the 2014 Olympics. He also won Gold at the 2007 Worlds and will try to make it a double this year as Canada has reached the semi-finals for the first time in six years. "I think talent-wise, our 2008 team was one of the best, but this year’s team is right up there as well," Hamhuis said. "This is one of the closer teams I’ve been on at world championships. We’re the second youngest team at the tournament and have scored the most goals, so there was lots going well for us through the round robin. We’ve got a great coach in Todd McLellan and the whole staff, and he’s given us a similar game plan to the Olympics where we were going to play good defense and check our way to wins rather than just trying to outscore the other teams. We’ve scored a lot of goals, but it has come from playing good defense."

Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning sees a lot of value in what Luca Sbisa has brought to the team.

Benning signed Sbisa to a three-year, $10.8 million contract extension on Wednesday. "In this division, L.A., San Jose and Anaheim are big, heavy teams and he plays his best in those heavy games," Benning said of Sbisa. "He separates forwards from puck and has the strength. And we burned two years of him being a UFA. I feel it's a good deal for him and the team. He's kind of an old, throwback defenseman and he's showing more confidence with the puck skating out of his zone and is making good decisions with the puck. He's getting good confidence." Sbisa doesn't do much offensively, but he does have 149 hits and 127 blocked shots in 2014-15. It's worth noting that he looks bad from an analytics perspective as the Canucks tend to do significantly better when it comes to possessing the puck when he's off the ice.

Chris Tanev is a plus-four through the first five games of the playoffs.

Tanev is a rock-solid blueliner for the Canucks and that has extended into the post-season. The undervalued rearguard is an important part of the Canucks defensive corps. He has two assists in five games.

Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning revealed that he had the option of trading Ryan Miller instead of Eddie Lack.

"We could have moved Ryan Miller," Benning said during a gathering with season ticket holders. "There were teams calling on Ryan Miller." After saying that he was booed by the crowd, which isn't too surprising because moving Eddie Lack for a third and seventh-round pick was an unpopular move. Some fans likely rationalized it by assuming that trading Miller wasn't an option given his contract, but clearly that's not true. Benning defended his decision by saying that he wanted a veteran goaltender to be paired up with Jacob Markstrom.

The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a two-year deal, general manager Jim Benning announced Monday.

Markstrom, 25, appeared in three games with the Canucks in 2014-15 and 32 games with the Utica Comets of the AHL, where he was 22-7-2, with a goals-against average of 1.88, a save percentage of .934 and five shutouts. In 50 career NHL games with Vancouver and Florida, he has a mark of 13-28-5 and a 3.19 GAA.